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Darian

The Hunter is obviously confused.

"Know vulture...carrion eater. No like but needed."

A pause.

"Not understand this spite. Is like Mikal's vengeance?"

Kadri:

She pauses.

"Vulture. . . does what it does because . . . it must to live, yes? But does not think. Not view people, thinking things, its own kind, as Carrion to be had, as something to be had for the sake of pain. So, I suppose. . yes. . you are right. Vulture. . is better."

A pause again.

"Revenge? Revenge. . . "

She says rolling the word around on her tongue as if tasting it.

"No. Izdira. Is . . . contempt."

Darian

"To live, aye. Also serves purpose, if carrion left, not eaten, then sickness come."

"Con-tempt," she repeated, thinking hard. "No respect? Like way some see female with weapon?"

Kadri:

"Not No respect. Less than no respect. Opposite of respect."

Darian

She nods her head. "Understand now, this con-tempt."

"How you come here? Why leave place where born? If no want say, Darian understand."

Kadri:

She shrugs.

"Parents tell me to marry someone, did not want to do so - so I left. Went away with the North wind and make my own path, yes?"

Cesare

He comes in from outside, hair wet, eyes looking around the room. Seeing Darian, there is an immediate smile. Kadri is there too which could be fortuitous as he wants to talk to her about something. He walks over to them, looking for signs that he might be welcome in case they are talking about something personal.

Kadri waves at him, waving him over with a smile.

Darian

Darian offers Cesare a smile and pats the seat next to her then looks Kadri.

"Own path, aye."

The tone of her next words indicate she is talking about the world in general as she knows.

"No understand this make marry thing. No make sense. Marry who want or not."

Kadri:

She shakes her head.

"Only sometimes, on the plain. More often, used as. . . barter for making friends. My the Father."

She shrugs.

Darian

"Stupid way make friends." Darian said definitively. "Borrow to get pups, aye, but no stay after pups birthed. All must agree, otherwise pups be weak, poisoned by bad feelings."

Mikal

He enters the tavern, stamping the mud off his boots just outside the door. He shakes loose hay out of his cloak, having just come from the stables to settle Talia in for the night.

Seeing the small group around the table, he heads that way. "Mind if I join you?" He asks.

Cesare

He settles down next to Darian, one arm slipping loosely around her as he listens to the conversation.

"Marriages are often arranged within the Rhoni. Parents often making choices but I have not heard of anyone being forced to marry. Doubt I could be forced into anything like that, though I suspect it is harder for females in that many of them would not find leaving and coping on their own easy. We seem to have some exceptions in our group."

He grins, thinking that the females in this group are very different from the normal and in a way he approves of. Darian definitely has an interesting view of things.

He looks up as Mikal enter and waves him in. His question for Kadri may get a wider audience but then that might be a good thing.

"Something I want to ask, if I can change the conversation for a moment. I would like one day to own a horse. I accept that there are things I would need to learn first. Riding, obviously, but before that knowing how to care for it. So i was thinking that maybe in exchange for that learning I might look after someone's mount?"

Kadri motions over Mikal as well.

"Go right ahead. Join the throng."

She looks back to Cesare.

"Absolutely, I would be happy to teach you what I know."

Darian

She settles comfortably against Cesare, her head cocked in listening as he speaks. She offers Mikal a nod and a brief smile as he joins them then turns her attention back to the conversation at hand.

"Think Kadri find Cesare good student," she comments after Kadri agrees to teach him horsemanship. "Learn quick."

Mikal

He sits down, hanging his cloak over a nearby chair, stretching his arms over his head and cracking his knuckles. "Long day. And still need to get some sparring in with Daxia later." He grimaces. "She doesn't pull her blows. Still black and blue from last time."

He orders an ale and looks around the group. "Couldn't help but overhear some. I am a strong believer in Fate. If not Fate, it is too odd that so many who have reason to hate Montague have all come together by chance."

He turns to Cesare. "I'd show you some things about caring for horses, but from what I've seen Kadri knows a lot more than I do. Always better to learn from the best when you can."

Cesare

He is pleased with Kadri's offer and Darian's comments. He waits for Mikal to finish speaking before finalising the offer.

"Then I will happily accept Kadri's offer. Thank you."

He smiles at her, before responding to Mikal's comments.

"I have nothing against Montague personally that I don't have against nobility in general."

He grins, showing that there isn't too much he has gripes about.

"But there is much I don't know about my past and who knows, there may yet be a connection. I do believe the Fates have brought us all together though. There are other connections between us, myself and Lia for instance. But it might not be past associations that are important other than to help in forming a common bond, I believe it might be for some future purpose, something that might need a group such as this."

Kadri:

"Fate. Don't believe in it. There is me. There is you. There is what happens to us and how we choose to act and react."

Daxia

She came striding in through the door, grinning broadly, clearly in a fine mood. Catching Kadri's comment as she walked in, she laughed. "Of course there is 'fate'. There are only so many Paths one could take, yah?" she asked as she removed her cloak and draped it over a chair. "That is 'fate'. What Path you walk? That is up to you." She sat down beside Mikal.

"So we will talk philosophy tonight? That will make Mikal so sad, yah?" she said with a sly grin. "He looks forward so much to Dazi's teaching."

Mikal

He grins at her. "I look forward to it, but my bruises do not." He chuckles. "And you owe me an hour, before bed tonight, showing me the ripostes to that low-line double-beat move and helping me on the broadsword. In turn, I'll pick up where we left off on small unit tactics."

Daxia

She chuckled. "Your bruises can look no worse than mine after training with the Captain of the Allaine Guard. Verchovai Reena measured how much complaining one did about their bruises; those who complained the most never seemed to be assigned the duty of guarding the Allaine family themselves. They had the honor of keeping the grounds of Dawnview Castle safe."

Daxia grinned. "It was amusing to see how many of my Sisters did not make that connection. I could understand the Initiates not grasping some of her subtleties, but Starriders should not be so blind to the Captain's wiles."

Mikal

"Sounds like Cameron. He'd take his turn at sparring, just like the regular trainers, even with the new recruits. Not too big for it. Liked him for that too. But after he'd thrash you, if you just got up and came back at him, no complaints, no whining, just trying your best, he'd make sure you got easy duty the next day to let your bruises heal. If you bitched and moaned, said he wasn't being 'fair', you had duty digging latrines for a week. Amazing how long it took some to learn."

He chuckles. "I miss the Lights. Little brotherhood when you're on your own. There is a lot to be said for being able to sleep with both eyes closed."

Daxia

"Oh, yes. The Initiate's first journey from the Vale is usually a solitary one, so I am grateful for having company on the road." She laughed. "That is what started this philosophical discussion, isn't it?" Daxia looked at Cesare. "I confess I don't understand your Fates, Cesare. At times, you speak of them as though they are as real to you as Dayala is to me, or Jvrill is to Mikal, or Lady Attera is to my sister. At other times, it seems as though they are just ideas that guide your life.

"If it is not forbidden for others to know, I would be most interested in learning more about the Rhoni beliefs." She smiled as she shrugged her shoulders. "I have always been most curious about these things, which -- I think -- is what gave Kassia the certainty that I am to become a Priestess."

Mikal

He chortles and grins. "Not with that mouth. Priestesses need to be,... well, a bit more.., restrained. What was that word Cameron once used...., of yeah. Demure."

Darian

To Mikal's statement, she looks what puzzled. "What means demure?"